


In Need Of Defending

by TheSadisticMunchkin



Series: New Beginnings [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Princess Protection Program (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Basically I make Aaron Burr go through a lot of shit, Child Abandonment, Childhood, Comfort/Angst, Domestic Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, JUST ALL TYPES OF ANGST, Orphans, Teensy weensy bit of fluff, but mostly angst sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6075267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSadisticMunchkin/pseuds/TheSadisticMunchkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“One day, you’re going to make your sister proud. One day, you’re going to change someone’s life for the better and she will be smiling down at you. One day, you’ll find someone you can truly call your family who will love you and care for you. For now, all you have to do is wait.”</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This is Aaron Burr's story. Twice as long and twice as tragic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Is there a reason I'm still alive?

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Prince Protection Program](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6001534) by [TheSadisticMunchkin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSadisticMunchkin/pseuds/TheSadisticMunchkin). 



> So here is part 1 of part 2 of my PPP verse. Did that make sense? Anyway, this is only the beginning of Aaron's story. 
> 
> Pretty much, Alexander's story is set in stone. The next bits of his life are pretty fantastic since he's a prince now. 
> 
> Aaron's? Not so much. 
> 
> He had a bit more shit to go through than Alex and I intend to clear that up. There's a reason why he was cold to Alex in PPP and not just because of Washington.
> 
> So this one also has A LOT of triggers. I'm saying A LOT because it's really A LOT. Like I did not intend it to be this sad but it ended up being this sad. 
> 
> You can skip this one if you're not comfortable with reading what I have tagged above. Although they were more mentioned in passing than they were described in detail but it's better safe than sorry.
> 
> *Translations for phrases in a different language other than English are provided in the end notes*

Aaron Burr was always good at waiting.

 

He waited for his older sister on the steps of her high school every dismissal time. He waited for the nice waitress in the diner near their house to arrive with their usual order. He waited for a taxi near 36th street and sucked on a lollipop in one hand while holding his sister’s hand in another. He waited for Sally to finish eating dinner before he could go to the convenience store across the street to get ice cream.

 

He waited for his parents to come home every night so they could tuck him into bed and tell him they loved him.

 

He waited especially on the night they didn’t come home.

 

It was only 8:30 pm but that was already 30 minutes before Aaron was supposed to go to bed. Sally told him he could stay up longer just to greet mommy and daddy. She said that as she did her physics homework on the coffee table while watching the History channel. He tried to focus on the story about the Revolutionary War but his eyes kept drifting back to the unopened door. He knew he shouldn’t be so worried. Mommy and daddy sometimes came back home early in the morning.

 

But usually, they would call first.

 

So for the first time ever, Aaron started to get fidgety. He asked his sister if either of them called or texted yet and she shrugged her shoulders before putting her earphones back on. He checked the clock again.

 

 _8:52pm._ His eyes were starting to get tired and he could barely sit up. The muted gunshots and shouts of war on the television soon became white noise to him.

 

 _8:54pm._ His eyes were watering and he rubbed them gently just to will himself to stay up.

 

 _8:58pm._ There was a gunshot sound from the television and a soldier started falling to the ground in pain.

 

 _8:59pm._ Aaron’s body fell sideways on the couch along with the soldier and his head hit his sister’s thigh with only a slight protest emanating from her lips.

 

 _9pm._ There was a knock on the door but Aaron was already fast asleep before he could comprehend what was happening.

 

 _9:05pm._ His sister’s knees dropped to the floor in shock.

* * *

 

Aaron Burr was still willing to wait.

 

It all happened so fast the moment he woke up. His sister was in hysterics and there were 5 different strangers in his living room. 3 of them wore fancy black suits and the other two looked like an old married couple. Aaron stayed in his own little corner trying to observe everything that was happening. He wanted to go to his sister but Sally wouldn’t even allow him to go near any of the people in the room. He was taught not to talk to strangers anyway.

 

He waited as Sally calmed herself down.

 

He waited as she finally gestured for him to go to her.

 

He waited as a new wave of tears washed over her face when she hugged him close to his chest. He waited for his own tears to come but they didn’t. He didn’t know what was going on or why Sally was a sobbing mess. He didn’t know why his sister, his kind and beautiful older sister, looked like the world just crashed around her. He wanted to know why she held him as if he was the only thing keeping her together. He wanted to know how to fix everything.

 

Little did he know that he couldn’t fix _anything._

 

“Aaron, sweetie, I need you to listen to me and not say anything until I’m finished okay?” Aaron was still at a loss for words so he merely nodded. His sister didn’t need anything else to stress her out. “Baby, this is going to be hard to comprehend. I need you to stay strong for me, okay? I need you to stay strong.” Her voice cracked every time she said _stay strong_ and he felt that he really needed to. He had to stay strong because his sister couldn’t do it herself.

 

“Aaron, mommy and daddy won’t be coming back tonight.”

 

Oh.

 

“Will they come back tomorrow?”

 

The innocent question made Sally cry again and Aaron placed his chubby little hands on her cheeks. “Sally, don’t cry. I’m sorry.” He should have waited until she was finished. He should have waited for her to tell him properly but from her distressed expression, he was starting to piece the puzzle together already. He should be crying too. He should be clinging on to her plaid shirt and trying to shield his face from the outside world.

 

But he couldn’t.

 

She just told him to stay strong.

 

“Mommy and daddy will never come back,” He said it as a statement rather than a question. His high pitched voice rang like a bell through the silent room and the strangers still surrounding them shifted uncomfortably. No 6-year old would sound so resigned to this knowledge. No 6-year old would just accept the fact that his parents were dead. No 6-year-old would be the one holding their sister, 10 years his senior, and telling her that he was sorry.

 

No 6-year old would do such a thing.

 

“That’s right, sweetie. Mommy and daddy will never come back.” Sally shifted her position so that she sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor. Aaron knew what to do right away when she stretched her arms out on each side. He allowed himself to be enveloped in her arms as he sat in the space between her legs. “But I will never leave you, Aaron. We’re just going to have to go through this together, okay? We’ll just have to be strong. You think you can do that for me, sweetie?”

 

Aaron looked up at his sister, at the eyes sparkling with still unshed tears, at the trembling lips and the wayward strands of hair sticking out of her otherwise tight french braid. He looked at her and saw the stars. He looked at her and wished those stars would never go out and light up his way for just a little bit longer. He looked at her and saw the universe. He looked at her and never wanted the universe to burn so soon.

 

He touched her face, her cheeks littered with stardust leaking from her tear ducts, and nodded.

* * *

 

The car ride to their first foster home was uncomfortable but the hand that stroked his hair was not.

 

The morning after, they were told to pack their bags and be immediately relocated to an apartment 30 minutes away from their home. Well, it should have been 30 minutes if the famous New York traffic had anything to say about it. He peered up at his sister whose eyes were only staring blankly at the back of their driver’s head and he sighed. She was on the verge of crashing, he knew how it worked. He saw it happen during her Junior year of high school.

 

Usually, he would bring her a cup of warm tea when this happened but since they were  stuck in a traffic jam, tea wasn’t an option. So all he opted to do was press himself closer to her and remind her that he was still here. She responded by squeezing him closer to his side and kissing the top of his head. Two years. That’s all they really needed. Two years until Sally turned 18 and could be Aaron’s legal guardian. That didn’t sound so bad.

 

“Sweetie, we’re here.” came Sally’s voice from the silence of the police car. Aaron didn’t move for a few seconds before he felt his sister nudge him slightly. They were greeted by a pair of warm smiles once they got out of the car. It was the same old married couple that was back in the house and Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. They seemed nice enough.

 

“Hello there, children! Come in, you must be starving,” said the old lady while beckoning them to come closer. Truth be told, Aaron wasn’t starving but Sally looked like she needed something in her stomach as soon as possible. One of them held out their hand for him and Aaron only stared at it. “Come on sweetie, don’t be shy.”

 

“Only Sally can call me _sweetie_.”

 

Total silence followed his statement and the old lady’s hand closed gently around the air that should have been Aaron’s hand. A familiar touch landed on his shoulder and he looked up at his sister’s face. Immediately, he felt guilty and he ducked his head to avoid looking at her to see the disappointment. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Aaron usually isn’t like this.” Sally apologized for him and he felt his lip tremble at how tired she sounded.

 

“It’s alright, dear. We’ll get used to each other soon enough. You may call me Camila, Abuela Camila.” Abuela Camila knelt down in front of him and tilted his head up so he could look at her. “What do you want me to call you then, hijo?” Aaron looked up at his sister again and she nodded at Abuela Camila before he answered,

 

“Aaron is fine.”

* * *

Abuela Camila was right, he did get used to it.

 

For the first 6 months, they stayed with Abuela Camila and her husband up until Aaron turned 7. Abuela Camila wasn’t like mommy with her stern lectures and heels so tall they could poke his eyes out. Abuela Camila was softer, told bad Spanish jokes and baked raisin cookies at midnight because she felt like it. Abuelo Jorge was a quieter version of his dad. Where his dad loved to fix cars and slam unsuspecting victims in court, Abuelo Jorge liked reading the newspaper and cutting out the articles he found funny.

 

Another glaring difference was that Aaron wasn’t the one waiting for them to come home this time. They were the ones waiting for him and Sally.

 

They stopped going to the diner because it was a longer trip if they did. They stopped buying ice cream at the convenience store because Abuelo Jorge was strangely into making popsicles with odd flavors. Dragon fruit, Kiwi, and Tangerine were just a few of the flavors he recently came up with and Aaron surprisingly liked all of them. Aaron smiled more during dinner because Abuelo Jorge loved telling stories of the time he was a Social Studies teacher at a pretentious all girls school.

 

Sally still cried every night but not in front of Aaron anymore.

 

Aaron heard her, of course, every night.

 

During Christmas time, that was the first time he heard _Abuela Camila_ cry.

 

“Abuela, ¿por qué lloras?” He asked her when he came back downstairs to drink some milk. It was midnight already and the radio was playing old forgotten boleros that seemed to match Abuela’s cries. She didn’t notice that he was even there until he plopped himself carefully on her lap and held one of her hands in between both of his. “Abuela, ¿por qué lloras?” He asked again, much slower, just so he can make sure his pronunciation was correct. He was practicing after all.

 

“ _Oh hijo, ¿por qué estás despierto?_ Why are you awake?” She tried to wipe her tears away but to no avail. “You should be asleep. Papá Noel will not come if you are awake.”

 

“I don’t care about Papá Noel, Abuela. ¿Por qué lloras?” He was already getting worried but Abuela only shook her head.

 

“You shouldn’t worry about me, hijo. I’m just sad, that’s all. Sometimes it just happens.”

 

“Even during Christmas?”

 

“Especially during Christmas, hijo.” He didn’t understand. Why would anybody be sad during Christmas? “Now, why don’t we both go to bed and I could sing you a song from Sound of Music, hm? Does that sound nice, hijo?” Aaron wanted Abuela to talk about it but he knew he couldn’t push her to say more. He wanted to know how to help her. He wanted to know how to make her not sad anymore. Now two people in his life were sad and he didn’t know how to fix it.

 

All he could do was wait.

* * *

 

The day Aaron turned 7, he figured out why Abuela Camila cried on Christmas.

 

He and Sally were her last foster children.

 

They have been foster parents to hundreds of kids of different walks of life since they were a newlywed couple. However, Abuelo Jorge was already getting sick and Abuela Camila could barely do the things she used to do. In a few month’s time, they were going to resign as foster parents and live in a retirement home. Aaron was devastated and asked them why they couldn’t just adopt them. He was happy with them. They gave him a home and loved him like he was their own.

 

They told him they didn’t want to risk him becoming an orphan again.

 

So they traveled again, farther north of the city until they reached Brooklyn. There lived a tinier family in a tinier home. It wasn’t as big as Abuela and Abuelo’s but only because one person lived there. Her smile was bright, as bright as Sally’s if he was able to get it out of her. Her eyes sparkled with kindness when she welcomed them in another foreign language he could not speak. He understood some of them for some words were borrowed from Spanish until she realized they couldn’t understand her.

 

“Oh, my bad! I’m still pretty new to this. Most of the foster children they send me are also Filipino so sometimes I forget.” The young woman knelt down in front of him, much like Abuela Camila used to do, and smiled. “My name is Kristina but you may call me Ate Krista. Or Ate Tina. Or Ate Tuna, if you feel like being wild.” Aaron felt like she was already rambling but he smiled politely nonetheless. He learned from his experience in his first foster home. _Be polite. Be gentle. Don’t make it harder for them._

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ate Krista. I’m Sally and this is Aaron.” His sister shook Krista’s hand and forced a smile. Aaron knew it was forced, he’s seen it hundreds of times over the past 6 months. He took it upon himself to give Krista a genuine smile so that she wouldn’t get suspicious.

 

“I heard you two came from Abuela Camila? I love her. She was also my foster mom once, you know?” She put her arm around Aaron’s shoulder as she continued to talk. Her other hand held Aaron’s luggage. At some point, Krista’s accent started to change as she got on but Aaron didn’t mind. He found it funny. Sally lagged back but eventually followed them both into their new home for another few months.

* * *

Krista turned out to be a better foster parent than Aaron expected.

 

She was young, no older than 23, but she knew her way with children. She was fresh out of college and decided to sign up for the foster care program once she was settled into an apartment. She recently cared for a pair of twins that almost made her quit but when they assigned her the Burr children, she decided to keep going. Krista was a little awkward and could barely cook but Aaron learned enough recipes from Abuela Camila to pass on to Krista when she was on the verge of just ordering pizza.

 

Which was almost every night.

 

“Ate Krista, what are you doing?” he asked one day once he got back home from school. Sally went straight to her room to do her homework  but Aaron opted to see what his foster mom was up to. She was busy mixing something in a bowl but she was able to say hi before going back to her current task. “What are you cooking?”

 

“I’m cooking that thing we saw Jamie Oliver did on TV. The one that you said you liked?” She responded still mixing whatever it was in the bowl with fervor. Aaron sniffed the air once and looked slowly to the side at the stove.

 

“Ate Krista?”

 

No answer.

 

“Ate Krista!”

 

Still no answer.

 

_“Ate Krista, it’s burning!”_

 

Without hesitation, Krista dropped the bowl she was holding and ran straight to the stove. “ _Putangina!_ Shit, _fuck._ Aaron, don’t repeat anything I’m going to be saying for the next 5 minutes. Shit!” Aaron covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud as Krista ran around the kitchen like a chicken without its head for at least 10 minutes. “ _Fuck_ , okay. I think that’s better now.” At least, the smoke was gone, Aaron figured. He walked over as Krista slid down one of the kitchen walls and rubbed her face tiredly.

 

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked while sitting down next to Krista.

 

“Yeah… I’ll be fine.” She unceremoniously placed her head on Aaron’s shoulder with a grunt, which made Aaron jump a little bit at the sudden weight. After a few minutes of Aaron awkwardly patting her head, Krista sighed. “So, do you want to just order pizza again?”

 

“Can we get pineapples on it this time?”

 

Krista rolled her eyes but eventually nodded. “I don’t understand why you like pineapples on your pizza but alright. Only because you’re cute.”

 

Aaron beamed.

* * *

The day Aaron turned 8 was the worst day of his life.

 

He didn’t want to look at her. He didn’t want to believe it was real. Because this wasn’t real. None of it was real. She was still _his_ universe. She was still the constellations that lit up _his_ night sky. Her cheeks were still littered with the last specks of stardust leaking from her tear ducts. Yet her eyes no longer shine as bright as a morning star. Her eyes only stared up into the sky where she truly belonged. Only up above the clouds will she be truly happy.

 

Aaron wasn’t happy.

 

It was his turn to cry.

 

Krista held him so that he didn’t have to watch her leave him for good.

 

“Baby boy, look at me.” Krista was crying too. He was afraid they would eventually cry a river. “Sally loved you very much, okay? She’s still keeping her promise to you.”

 

“But she left me.” He said simply and Krista ducked her head to wipe the fresh wave of tears that arrived. Aaron has stayed strong for so long and all of it was for his sister. Krista knew that all too well. Krista would be the one to hold Sally when she woke up from nightmares. Krista was the one who found her body and it took all the strength within her not to scream. Krista was the one who had to watch Aaron’s universe burn within his dark eyes.

 

“What will happen now, Ate Krista?”

 

She looked at him sadly and then back at the tombstone that Aaron refuses to read. She knew Aaron had to leave again. Their deal was until he turned 8 and that was it. Now she wished that she signed for much longer but she had a lot on her plate too. There was a reason why she could only take 2 foster children a year. Yet she wanted Aaron to move on properly. If he stayed with her, he would forever be reminded of where she died. He would look at the room where they played card games from her youth as _the room where it happened._

 

She didn’t want that for him, no matter how much she knew she would miss him.

 

“I don’t know, Aaron. But I do know this,” She sat cross-legged on the ground beside Sally’s grave and opened her arms wide. Aaron hesitated for a moment before dropping to the ground as well and burying his face into Krista’s shoulder. “One day, you’re going to make your sister proud. One day, you’re going to change someone’s life for the better and she will be smiling down at you. One day, you’ll find someone you can truly call your family who will love you and care for you. For now, all you have to do is wait.”

 

“How long do I have to wait?” His voice cracked and Krista’s heart broke.

 

“As long as you can.”

 

Aaron nodded. He could do that. He was always good at waiting.

 

 _“Ma-mimiss kita, Ate Krista.”_ Aaron mumbled into her now tear stained shirt. All Krista could do was hold him tighter and wish for a better tomorrow for her Aaron, her sweet and kind Aaron, who didn’t deserve any of this.

* * *

 

His last two birthdays didn’t get any better.

 

His last two foster homes didn’t want him after 3 months each.

 

His last 5 orphanages beat him senseless until he had to run away.

 

The last 3 hours passed by him until the rain started to pour.

 

Aaron was ten years old today. There were no birthday cakes or tiny dance parties in the living room. There was no Abuela Camila or Ate Krista. There were no fond smiles and sweet good nights. All he had was the mangy mutt that slept next to him in the alley at 46th street and the millions of raindrops that fell on his head. The cold consumed him until he was practically numb. He welcomed the cold because that meant he didn’t have to feel anything anymore.

 

He didn’t have to feel sorry for himself.

 

He watched the mutt, whom he fondly named Brockholst for the heck of it, breathe in and out, unperturbed by the world around him. He didn’t know if dogs could dream but he wished Brockholst was having a nice dream. One of them had to be happy with their circumstance at least. The rain drenched him and seeped into his very bones but he didn’t mind. No one would care. _Sally_ would have cared.

 

_But Sally isn’t here._

 

He hasn’t truly cried since that day and he wasn’t planning on doing so. He _had_ a plan. He was going to show the world that he was capable enough. He may have been living on the streets but he mastered the art of stealth. He snuck into too many lunchrooms pretending to be a student, took quizzes in too many classrooms where the teacher was too old to see even the blackboard, walked the halls of too many public schools to even be considered real.

 

He was invisible.

 

That was what he wanted.

 

Most students thought he was a ghost. He heard stories accumulate throughout the past two years that sometimes he tells them to himself as a pick-me-up on darker days. Most students thought he was the ghost of a student murdered in the hallways of the school by one of the more disliked teachers. Another student caught on that he wasn’t a ghost but before he could tell the authorities, he disappeared and reappeared in a different school far away from there.

 

Sometimes he visited Abuela Camila in the retirement home.

 

She was frail and suffering a sickness that made her blind within a month. Aaron visited her and he tried not to cry every time she asked how he was doing. She would touch his face and ask him if her little Burr was happy.

 

He would always lie and say yes.

 

Abuelo Jorge died on Aaron’s 9th birthday but he was too far away from the retirement home to know. He knew now and he also visited him as much as he could. He told him stories of some of the meaner kids in the orphanages who stole his food and called him weak. He told him stories of Ate Krista and updated him on how she was doing. He visited her too, not as often as he would like since she lived in Brooklyn but still visited her nonetheless.

 

A few weeks before he turned 10, she got married and she moved back to the Philippines.

 

She had no other way of contacting him so he never heard from her again. He almost never had change to call her on the pay phone. He didn’t even know her number. He didn’t have a real home so she couldn’t send him letters and boxes of goodies she always promised him when he was younger. He, however, knew her full name and he kept it close to his heart until they met again.

 

He was hoping that they would meet again.

 

_One day, you’re going to make your sister proud._

 

The rain poured faster and his tears were no longer distinguishable between the other rain droplets.

 

_One day, you’re going to change someone’s life for the better and she will be smiling down at you._

 

Brockholst woke up and ran away at the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning. Aaron was all alone again.

 

_One day, you’ll find someone you can truly call your family who will love you and care for you._

 

His head hit the side of the dumpster and he willed himself to fall asleep. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he would never wake up again.

 

_For now, all you have to do is wait._

 

Aaron was tired of waiting.

* * *

 

_For now, all you have to do is wait._

 

His eyelids opened suddenly and he sat up abruptly in a cold sweat. His vision was blurry as he looked around but he could barely distinguish the figures walking around him. People. They were most probably people. He panicked. What was he doing here? Who were the people around him? _Why couldn’t his vision just clear up already?_

 

Then a calm voice pulled him out of his stupor.

 

“Son?”

 

Aaron looked to the side and he blinked his eyes rapidly just to be able to see the face next to him. “I need you to breathe.” He did as the voice told with fervor and a pair of large hands enveloped his own. “A little slower there, son.” He counted in his head, one to nine. He inhaled and then exhaled until his heart rate was back to normal. He counted again, one to nine until his vision cleared and he was staring at a man in a decorated military suit.

 

“Can you see me now?” His eyes flitted from side to side and he noticed that they were the only two in the room. The voices he heard came from outside. The door was ajar and voices were conversing but this man was with him. He looked back at the man and he nodded slowly. “Good. I’m just gonna help you get into a more comfortable position, alright? Is that okay with you?” He nodded again and those same large hands slowly cradled him until he was in a more comfortable sitting position. The man fluffed the pillows behind him before sitting back down.

 

“There you go. Is that better?”

 

He nodded again.

 

“You must be hungry. Would you like me to get something for you?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“You sure?”

 

“I don’t mean to impose on you, sir.”

 

When he finally spoke, the man’s large bushy eyebrows raised slightly. “You’re not imposing at all, son. I’m here to help.”

 

Aaron tilted his head to the side in confusion, the physical motion equivalent of the question _‘Why?’_

 

“I have pizza still in the oven. I can never finish one myself. Would you like a piece?” Aaron’s stomach betrayed him as it growled at the sound of pizza. “Or two?” The man said with a smile and it took a few seconds for Aaron to return it. “I’ll take that as a yes. Would you like to stand up or stay here?”

 

“Stay here?” The phrase held a different connotation when he said it but the older man only took it as him telling him he wanted to stay in the room. The man nodded and closed the door behind him when he left. Aaron took this opportunity to observe the room he was in. The bed was large, it barely fit him in it. A neat stack of laundry stood on what Aaron assumed was a desk and boots hung by their laces on what was supposed to be a coat rack.

 

“Okay, all I had was pizza with pineapple on it. I don’t know if that’s what you like.” Aaron’s ears perked up at the mention of pineapple and the older man smiled. “I stand corrected then.” Aaron, against his better instinct, made grabby hands towards the hot plate of pizza and devoured it the second he held it. He didn’t even notice the man leave the room again to get a glass of water but he didn’t come back.

 

In his place stood a much younger woman with a glass of water in her hands. Her long curly hair fell gently over her shoulders and covered her face only slightly. She was very beautiful and he felt almost embarrassed at his current state, cheese littered across his lips and a weak smile directed her way. “You got a little something there, sweetie.” The woman pointed at the corner of her lip but he didn’t move. He merely stared at her.

 

She raised her eyebrow in concern when he refused to move for a solid minute. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

 

_Don’t call me sweetie._

 

“Let me get that cheese off of you then, sweetie.”

 

_Don’t call me sweetie._

 

When she finally sat on the edge of the bed with a small white handkerchief in her hand, he recoiled. In the process, his half-finished pizza fell to the floor. The woman stared back at him in shock and he buried himself in the bedsheets as if that would shield him from her. She didn’t attempt to get him out of there. She didn’t attempt anything except run out of the room. He tried to regain his breathing. He counted again, one to nine. He only got up to eight before he started to cry.

 

_Sweetie, stay strong._

 

How could he when he was so scared?

 

“Director Schuyler, he’s a child. He’s not going to bite you.” The familiar voice of the man who gave him his pizza entered the room.

 

“He looked at me like I was about to!”

 

“Did you intend to?” He sounded like his hand was partially covering his mouth.

 

“Of course not, Major!” came the shrill reply.

 

Silence commenced until the man knelt in front of him and gently removed the sheets from his head. “Hey there, kid. Look at me.” It took a few more minutes of encouraging words before Aaron was able to open his eyes again. The man’s face didn’t morph into a monster or the face of his dead sister unlike his dreams so this all must have been real. The kind man was real. The woman in the room was real.

 

“There you go. See? He’s not going to hurt you, Angelica.”

 

“That’s Director Schuyler to you, Major Washington.” The woman replied but she mimicked his position on the floor. She gave Aaron an apologetic smile and handed him the handkerchief. “I’m sorry about scaring you, sweetie. I don’t know what I did to frighten you so--” Aaron shook his head and covered his ears. No. He didn’t want to be called that. He didn’t want _anyone_ to call him that. One person and one person _only_ can call him sweetie.

 

And that person was _dead._

 

“Don’t call me sweetie.”


	2. Where you decide to stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Washington felt as if Aaron has gotten real comfortable real quickly. Every smile Aaron directed his way ensured his own spot in his heart for him.
> 
> It was right next to the hole his wife left when she died. Aaron’s smile made it beat a little bit faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS! AARON'S HAPPY ENDING!

Angelica was worried.

 

Angelica worries about a lot of things in general. When her father passed on the Prince Protection Program Director position to her, she ended up worrying about 25 other lives that were not hers or her sisters’. The pièce de résistance was that they were all royal princes who would not stop complaining the minute they get to headquarters. This time, Angelica wasn’t worried about some spoiled ass rich kid who doesn’t want to wear denim in place of their silk pants.

 

Angelica was worried about the kid currently sound asleep in Washington’s bedroom.

 

“You’re one mission away from becoming General, Washington.” The comma in between Washington’s future role and his name was clearly pointed out in her tone. Each pause between the title and his name would make Washington strive harder, run faster, and protect princes better.  “Yet you waste your time trying to coax a puppy out of its cage.”

 

“It’s not a puppy, Angelica. It’s a child who lived on the streets. Are you telling me you would have  _ left  _ him there?” Washington looked tired. Heck,  _ she  _ felt tired too and that should be all the more reason why he shouldn’t be doing this. She took care of her sisters when she was younger sure but this was totally different. Who knew what happened to this kid that made him sleep on the streets? It shouldn’t be Washington’s business.

 

He’s got 6 other princes he needs to worry about.

 

“It’s Director Schuyler.” she said sternly as she stood up to pace the room.

 

“You’ve been Director for 2 days and I still see you as little Angie who would chase some of the younger princes through headquarters.” Angelica pouted and glared at Washington.

 

“You may be older but I have authority over you, Washington. You could easily be made a custodial staff.”

 

“For what, Angelica?” He stood up too, his hands clenched at his sides to try and calm himself down. “For helping someone in need? For doing what I’ve been trained to do for most of my adult life?”

 

“You were trained to protect _ princes _ .”

 

“I was trained to protect  _ boys _ who have been taken away from their  _ families _ .” Angelica’s expression softened as he looked back at his bedroom. The door stood ajar and they could both see Aaron’s peaceful face while he dreamed. “I don’t know  _ when _ and I don’t know  _ how _ but this boy has lost his family. I see it in his eyes, Angelica. He’s gone through so much. He’s gone through  _ so much more _ than the princes that I help to escape their country.”

 

Angelica watched as Washington closed his bedroom door to keep Aaron from waking up and sighed. She knew what this was. This was not just some form of heroic generosity as he voiced it out to be. This wasn’t just Washington being the picture perfect General of the PPP. 

 

This was personal.

 

Years ago, long before Washington joined the Prince Protection Program, he was married. Angelica knew his wife very well. Martha Washington used to be her tutor when she was 5. She was beautiful and Washington looked at her as if she put the moon and the stars up in the sky every night. He adored her and she adored him. They wanted children more than anything in this world and Angelica believed with all her heart that they deserved one.

 

But Martha turned out to be barren and that dream died with her.

 

Ridden with grief, Washington joined the Prince Protection Program through the connections he had with Martha and became their most esteemed Major in a span of 6 years. He continued to tutor Angelica until she came of age in his wife’s honor. Angelica soon saw him as a second father. He had a family with the Schuylers but no one could love him as much as Martha did. No one could replace the aching hole that Martha left when she died.

 

He lost a family. Aaron lost a family. He was hoping to form a new one that was  _ his. _

 

“It’s going to take a while for that boy to trust you, George.” Washington’s shoulders tensed a bit at that but soon relaxed. He turned around and tried to force a smile for his new Director.

 

“But do you trust me?” The hint of uncertainty in the Major’s otherwise steady voice pierced her heart with sympathy. 

 

Angelica didn’t even need to think about her response.

 

“With my life.”

* * *

It didn’t take too long for Aaron to settle in.

 

Most of his clothes were left at the orphanage he last ran away from and Aaron refused to go back and get them. Part of him was because he couldn’t stand to see the much older boys who beat him up every day after school. Another part of him wanted to leave the clothes there in case another boy just like him needed them. The second reason warmed Washington’s heart and he scheduled a few vacation days from the PPP to buy clothes with Aaron.

 

It did take long for Aaron to sleep in his own room.

 

Since Washington had enough connections through the PPP that later on became connections to the government, he was able to procure residency and adoption papers without a fuss. Aaron was a true orphan, his parents died when he was 6 and his sister died when he was 8. His other relatives barely knew who he was and would refuse to take him in if asked. The Burrs were actually a pretty powerful name but Aaron wasn’t forced to know that.

 

His sister was the only one who knew. Sally died with the weight of the Burr name on her shoulders.

 

Washington wasn’t surprised when Aaron said his last name was Burr. He knew his father to some extent during one of his missions. The Burr family used to work in the Prince Protection Program before they transferred to their sister program for Princesses instead. They left because they had their very own little princess in Sally Burr. They stopped working in the protection programs entirely when Aaron was born. But leaving the protection programs meant they were targets of enemies from other countries.

 

They were shot by the enemies of the Polish royal family a few years later.

 

Aaron didn’t understand any of this at 6. No one explained why mommy and daddy died to him at 6. Washington was given the burden of explaining it all to him a week after the papers for his adoption were filed and being reviewed. Surprisingly, Aaron took it all in. He nodded at the right times and asked questions when he needed to. He didn’t cry. He didn’t complain that it was unfair or anything that a normal 10-year-old would do at this sort of information.

 

He simply talked less. 

 

The lack of reaction concerned him nonetheless.

 

His first day back to school was even more surprising. The boy never failed to amaze him every single day. He was completely fine with taking the school bus instead of Washington bringing him to school. Considering they were a few miles out of the city, Aaron even looked like he enjoyed going to school. It was the same routine every day. He woke up, ate breakfast and waved goodbye to him before boarding the bus.

 

On the days, he was out on a mission (he was only gone for 3 days every other week), Aaron placed notes on Washington’s bed. He put a sticky note of a smiley face every morning after he woke up and a sticky note before he went to bed of all the things he did at school that day. Washington kept them all in a box in his closet. Washington felt as if Aaron has gotten real comfortable real quickly. Every smile Aaron directed his way ensured his own spot in his heart for him.

 

It was right next to the hole his wife left when she died. Aaron’s smile made it beat a little bit faster.

 

There was, however, a single incident that blew Washington away.

 

It was almost a year after Aaron’s adoption papers were filed. Washington was only a few days away from being approved to legally be Aaron’s new father. The final stage had to come from Aaron himself. He had to give a small report on his 11th birthday and be asked if he wanted to stay or get assigned to another, much more long term, foster home. Washington wasn’t worried if Aaron would say yes or no. He somehow already knew the answer in his heart.

 

Then Aaron tried to apply to college.

 

“Aaron? Could you come down here for a second?”

 

The familiar sound of Aaron coming down the stairs echoed in Washington’s ears as he waited. “Do you need me for something?” Before Aaron could ask anything else, Washington held up a single envelope with the seal of a very familiar Ivy League University. 

 

“I got this in the mail today.” Washington started very calmly. “It’s from Princeton. I don’t know why Princeton would be sending mail to us here but I got the answer a few minutes ago when they called.” When Washington looked up, Aaron was on the verge of tears. Washington wanted to look away because damn it he didn’t want him to feel this way. He just doesn’t understand anything right now and he needed answers.

 

“They called? What did they say?”

 

“Son,” He stood up from his position on the couch and approached Aaron slowly. The 11-year-old boy refused to look at him and Washington wanted nothing more than to envelope him in his arms. He couldn’t do that. Aaron looked like a lost animal who would jump at the sound of rustling leaves. “They sent a rejection letter. For you.” Washington could practically see Aaron’s heartbreak when the first wave of tears fell down his face.

 

His breathing became shallow and he was looking around almost as if he was finding a way to escape. Washington caught the young boy in his arms when his knees buckled and sobs racked through his entire body. Aaron wasn’t as tall as most boys his age and he was thinner than more than half of his year. He easily curled up into a ball in Washington’s arms as he let out the most heart-wrenching sound from his lips. He looked almost like a baby with his face pressed up against Washington’s chest.

 

Washington, for the first time, didn’t know what to do.

 

All he could do was hold Aaron until his sobs would subside. Washington never had a kid. God, did he want a kid but since he never had one, he didn’t know how to deal with crying. When he took Aaron in, he never cried. He cried the first time they met when Angelica made him feel uncomfortable but that was pretty much the only time he saw him that vulnerable. After he filed the adoption papers, Aaron acted like the picture perfect child with the polite, clipped answers and the winning smile.

 

Now Washington knows it was all a facade.

 

_ Don’t call me sweetie.  _

 

“Aaron, son, I need you to look at me,” He said once Aaron’s breathing became a bit more even. Aaron didn’t look up and Washington figured that it was because of fear. He was okay with it. The poor kid still looked like a wounded animal trying to stay alive. “Okay but you have to listen to me. Son, I just want to know why. If you wanted to apply to college early, you could have told me and we would have figured something out together.”

 

Aaron was silent for a solid 5 minutes before he sniffled and responded in a muffled voice,

 

“Wanted to make you proud.”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“Wanted to make  _ you  _ proud.” Aaron finally lifted his head and looked at Washington. His eyes still held the child-like innocence Washington was afraid he lost. His eyes looked at him, searching and scanning for a different answer, and Washington might have thought Aaron saw the stars. “I applied to college at first for myself. I wanted to show people that I’m smart enough to carry my own legacy and be my own person. Not just…  _ orphan boy _ .”

 

Washington didn’t want to stop him when he started. He merely listened as Aaron went on a long tirade about legacies and finding himself. This was the most amount of words Aaron has said to him throughout the entire year he’s been with him. He hung on every word. He rubbed his back at every period. He remembered each tiny sticky note he left for him, placed neatly in a box in his closet, at every breath he took. 

 

“But then you came. All the foster parents who took me in before are either in a distant country or six feet in the ground. The orphanages I’ve lived in either hated me or wanted me dead the minute I walked through their doors. You’ve loved me longer. You’ve cared for me longer. This entire year you never gave up on me once and I hear the people in my school whisper behind my back.” He paused to wipe a few tears from his cheeks but more replaced them.

 

“I hear them say you only took me in because you felt sorry for me. That I was just your charity case and nothing else. I wanted to prove to them and to myself that… you don’t see me that way. I am more than just a dying boy in the streets. I wanted to show them that there was a reason why Washington wanted me and…” He realized a bit too late that he was rambling and he ducked his head again with a bit lip. “I’m sorry if this makes me sound selfish.”

 

“Who said I wanted you to say sorry?” Washington felt the boy tense in his arms and he just squeezed him a little bit tighter. “Aaron, you don’t have to go through great feats just so I could be proud of you.” Aaron still looked unconvinced but Washington continued. 

 

“Every little thing you do makes me smile. Those sticky notes I find after I come back home? They let me know that you trust me enough to tell me about your day. Each time you allow me to tuck you in at night? Once again, you’ve given me your trust. Son, I do love you as if you’re really my child and I wouldn’t trade you for the world.” 

 

“You really love me?” The way he said it broke Washington’s heart. It was as if Aaron still didn’t believe that someone could still love him. He has been beaten and broken and left for dead and he felt he had to do something extraordinary to be validated. He felt he needed to do a great feat just to be somebody special. “You want me to stay here with you?”

 

“Aaron, it’s not my final choice if you want to stay here with me. It’s all up to you.”

 

“I want to stay. Please let me stay.” He sounded frantic and pleading which made Washington’s heart constrict.

 

“It’s your choice, son.” Washington wiped a few more tears away from Aaron’s cheeks and cradled his face in his hands. “Are you absolutely sure you want to stay?”

 

“More than anything.” was Aaron’s whispered response and Washington smiled. 

 

“Then you can stay. We sign the papers in the morning.” Aaron’s smile could have lit up the room. Before he could say anything else, Aaron tackled him to the ground in a fierce hug. His thankfulness bled through his happy sobs and the way he clung to his new father with a newfound strength. Washington laughed as his son whisper-sobbed his thank yous frantically and promised to make him proud in every way he knew how.

 

_ Son.  _

 

Aaron still hasn’t called him dad but that was okay. Baby steps. Aaron still needed to grow. Washington was okay to let Aaron call him dad in his own time. If it was in 5 hours or 5 years, he was willing to wait. He learned that from Aaron after all. They learn from each other and that was how Washington envisioned his family to be. His first vision was with his wife but Aaron’s smile soon filled up the hole in his heart and gave him new life.

 

Martha would have loved Aaron. Aaron would have loved her. But he couldn’t think of that now. He had a new family now and Martha would have wanted him to focus on his family. It was small, but at least, all his love would be concentrated on Aaron. Everything else will come soon after. 

 

That night, he tucked Aaron in the same way he always did and kissed him on the forehead. He stayed for the hour it took for Aaron to fall asleep completely. Washington watched Aaron’s chest rise and fall until it reached a steady rhythm. “Goodnight, son.” He whispered, indulged in another forehead kiss, and left the room closing the door behind him. The phone in his pocket buzzed and he took it out to see that Angelica was calling him. It was probably a new mission. Some other prince needed saving again.

 

Washington looked at the closed door behind him and smiled. Protecting princes had a whole new meaning now. Every time he had to help a prince escape, he would think of Aaron. He would think of his smile and how it would fill him with warmth once he got home. He would think of the feeling of Aaron’s arms around his neck when he jumps up to hug him at the front door. With only a few missions left until he became a general, he needed happy memories to keep him going. 

 

_ Wanted to make you proud.  _

 

“I’ll make  _ you _ proud, son.” he said before taking Angelica’s call.

 

He protected princes for a living. 

 

But Aaron Burr was his  _ own _ little prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next story will be centralized a lot on Laurens/Lafayette and Alex basically being the reason why they do anything together. Stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> I might post part 2 of part 2 within the week but no promises. In the meantime, leave a comment!
> 
> Translations:
> 
> "¿por qué lloras?" - Why are you crying? (Spanish)
> 
> "¿por qué estás despierto?" - Why are you awake? (Spanish)
> 
> "Putangina!" - your mom's a bitch/whore, a common swear term (Filipino)
> 
> "Ma-mimiss kita, Ate Krista." - I'll miss you, Ate Krista. (Filipino)
> 
> "Ate" - a term of respect for girls older than you (Filipino)


End file.
